Alicia Keys to set arena on fire

US R&B singer and songwriter Alicia Keys will perform in Shanghai and Macao on her Set the World on Fire tour. Provided to China Daily

Alicia Keys will perform her one and only concert on the Chinese mainland on her Set the World on Fire tour, at Shanghai's Mercedes-Benz Arena on Nov 20.

The 32-year-old American R&B singer and songwriter has won 14 Grammy Awards and sold more than 65 million records worldwide since her first studio album Songs in a Mirror became an international success in 2001.

Keys made her debut performance in China in 2004, when she participated in a concert held on the Great Wall in Beijing.

"China is a huge country, and people have been very friendly," Keys told China Daily in an e-mail interview. She was particularly impressed with Beijing's buildings of traditional Chinese style. "Lots of my knowledge about China came from my friend Coco - I attended her wedding (in China) a couple of years ago."

Coco Lee is an American-Chinese pop singer. Her wedding to Canadian businessman Bruce Rockowitz took place in Hong Kong in 2011.

"I very much look forward to opportunities to work with artists from China," Keys says about her expectations for the upcoming concert in Shanghai.

According to the organizer of Keys' concert in Shanghai, Yaoxing Media Co, although 2013 has witnessed an unprecedented number of Western acts in Shanghai's live entertainment scene, almost all of the artists have been male: Metallica, Pet Shop Boys, Suede, Justin Bieber and One Republic.